Mmm, is it just me or does this video creep you out a bit? The Clothbot was designed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. As a proof of concept model, the Clothbot uses a pair of wheels to grip wrinkles to enable itself to climb around on pieces of cloth like your shirt or trousers. The bot has a moving tail that adjusts its centre of gravity and allows it to change direction.

System and Design of Clothbot: a Robot for Flexible Clothes Climbing was presented at the  2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

I’m not sure what uses this will have, but the developers suggest as a toy, a method of “body inspection” or a mobile phone that climbs around on your shoulder while you talk to keep your hands free.

I’m sure this is just a scene from a  horror movie…..Cyberdyne anyone ?

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Robot, tech clothing

Clothbot – Climb Your Clothes originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 22, 2012 at 10:00 am.

Android on a stick anyone? The FXI Cotton Candy garnered a lot of attention and  is slowly starting to filter its way into the wild, but the Chinese market has just released a similar Android based thumb stick.  Not quite as highly specced and slightly larger, the MK802 runs a 1.5GHz A10 CPU,  512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage expandable via microSD or USB and runs Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The MK802 sports an HDMI port compared with the Cotton Candy’s HDMI plug, so you’ll also need a cable to connect this to your HDMI capable device.

And the “best” thing is that the MK802 is only $74 shipping including freight from Aliexpress in China. The bad news, it’s already on backorder expecting to be shipping again mid June.

I’ll probably wait for the first few reviews before I drop the hammer on this one as sometimes cheap Chinese products means well, cheap product but it certainly looks promising

Filed in categories: Android related, Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Android, Thumb Drive

Android Thumbstick MK802 – Cheap Candy originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

It’s Summer time, the weather’s hot, you’re working away and your butt’s getting hotter and stickier with every key stroke. Worry no longer, Thanko’s USB Cool Cushion plugs into your PC’s USB port and the inbuilt fan keeps your derrière cool, calm and  collected.  It’s not going to be a Marilyn Monroe moment, but  hopefully the small luxury might just see you through the day. Plug it into an auto adapter and your rear can enjoy the same comfort on the way home.

Available from Thanko for ¥1260 ($16US)

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: fan, USB devices

Thanko USB Cool Cushion – Cooler Butt originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 14, 2012 at 8:00 am.

The Dragon Grip from Dragon Grip Interactive is not a gaming controller.  This hand-held, special-effects toy is a Kickstarter project, and it is “based on a character from a creative world called Legend City.”  It “allows the user to make sound effects styled from 70′s Kung Fu movies in a choreographed sequence by the users own moves and style.”  A pledge of $10 gets you a copy of the Legend City comic book, and a $25 pledge gets you a first edition black Dragon Grip, too.  Other rewards, including a red Dragon Grip, are available at higher pledge levels.  The funding period ends Sunday, June 24 at 8:10pm EDT.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Toy

Dragon Grip Sound Effects Toy originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 11, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

One of my all-time favorite adult toys is the Plantraco Desktop Rover (I have the ‘pre-laser tag’ version, and sadly, they do not seem to sell this anymore. I liked it because it was a device I could play with on a desktop (hence the clever name) and imagine it being a Mars rover, or an alien scout vehicle, or whatever.

I was excited to try the Desk Pets Tankbot as a potential replacement that actually did more and cost less, and used my smartphone as the remote!

The $40 MSRP toy comes with the actual TankBot itself (available in 4 colors, each with its own frequency), a remote-control dongle for the earphone jack of your smartphone, and that’s about it. There are some instructions on the packaging, and some on-line if you need more assistance. The TankBot does amazingly well on the Gadgeteer Creak Test overall.

Front view and control dongle

The actual tank is about 2.5″ tall, 2″ wide, and about 2.25″ long and very light. A small folding ‘ramp’ in the rear is the USB charging plug, and it has LEDs inside the front windshield that act like a combination of eyes and headlights. They do not actually project light but have several brightness levels. What looks like two headlights seem to be the sensors. The overall design is simple and kind of cute. It is even cuter since it has a bit of a personality programmed in – it cries, honks, snores, beeps, and makes other noises.

The tank unit charges through the USB plug built into its back (see image below). On my laptop, it blocked the other USB port and was held at an odd angle. It takes about 40 minutes to get 15 minutes of play. The remote control dongle has an ‘off’ switch (that I always forget about) and uses 3 L1154F (AG13, LR44) batteries.

Back view showing charging plug, and the dongle again

Press the button for two seconds to turn it on, then press again to change between the three modes:

1. Obstacle Avoidance Mode – uses sensors to avoid barriers in front of it over a couple inches tall. In this mode it can run mazes, etc. It does not, however, sense drop-offs or things in front if it that can flip it over.
2. Autonomous Personality Mode – it runs around flashing the lights and making noises. When it gets stuck, it usually either snores or cries.
3. Smartphone Control – uses a dongle in the earphone jack and a downloaded free app to control the unit. The controller uses two simple sliders to control each track independently. Note that the receivers are in the front of the unit so it does not respond as well when controlled from behind.

It does the cries and so on in all modes, which rather detracts from imagining it is a Mars Rover or spy device – a ‘noises off’ switch would be nice. The unit is also a bit top-heavy, with a very small wheelbase and a very steep angle in the front treads, so it really does not take much to make it flip over. It is definitely not designed as an ‘all-terrain’ device.  In ‘remote control’ mode, I find I have to reset the connection pretty much every time, but that may be something I am doing wrong somehow (possibly forgetting to turn off the dongle!)

The above aside, it is kind of fun to play with. In mode 1, it will avoid your hands and almost any kind of barrier that is tall enough for it to ‘see’. You can make a neat maze with just pieces of paper folded to stand up on their own, and the website has a cool video of it running a maze. Mode 2 has more limited play potential but it still kind of fun to watch.

TankBot with eyes aglow, and the smartphone app

Mode 3, ‘Smartphone Control’, is what I had the most hope for! Like my old Desktop Rover, there are two joysticks – forward and back for each tread. The problems I keep seeing are a delay in responsiveness, and an inconsistent tendency to not return to neutral. Much of the time I needed to reverse whatever the previous command was to get that tread to stop moving. These two issues really made it tough to enjoy the unit on smaller play areas – it just rarely felt like it was under my control.

Seeing this in action will be worth a thousand more words, so…

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Reviews

Tagged: desk toys, Remote Control, Toy

Desk Pets Tankbot Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 11, 2012 at 11:00 am.

I’m not a gun person, but I can’t help but be impressed by Jack Streat’s LEGO Heavy Weapons book from No Starch Press. First of all, he’s only 17 years old! Secondly, he offers plans for replicas of 4 guns: a Desert Eagle handgun, AKS-74U assault rifle, Lee Enfield sniper rifle and a SPAS combat shotgun. The plans don’t just show you how to build a 1:1-scale model that “looks” like a gun, it shows you how to make a model that actually shoots stuff! The book will be available soon through O’Reilly press for $24.95 (can get 30% off the book by using the discount code “ARMORY” on this page –  http://nostarch.com/legoheavyweapons). If you’re interested, be sure to check Jack’s YouTube video where he demonstrates the models.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Kid Gadgets, News

Tagged: Book, LEGO

LEGO Model Building Gets SERIOUS originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 9, 2012 at 5:45 pm.

Got a Napoleon complex? Want to re enact the Civil War? The Mini Cannon from Pocket Artillery is precision machined, muzzled loaded and is capable of  firing a .177″ BB using a fireworks fuse. Range is up to 100 yards with this cannon.  It also looks like soon they’ll be producing trebuchets, catapults, ballistas and guillotines as well. Certainly not the safest toys out there, but pretty cool none the less. Check out some of the videos.

Available for $29 from Pocket Artillery.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Geek toys

Mini Cannon from Pocket Artillery originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 8, 2012 at 10:00 am.

The RC Toy Robot is a concept toy from designer Jaehong Eric Han.  The robot can be controlled from smart devices or across the internet, and multiple robots will be able to interact with each other. Amongst other capabilities are the ability to be used as a baby monitor, to give you alerts from your social networks, and display pictures on its small screen. Looks pretty cool either for kids or those that are still young at heart

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Kid Gadgets, News

Tagged: RC Toy, Robot

RC Robot Could Be Your Robotic Pal originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 7, 2012 at 10:00 am.

Fellow Star Wars fangirls/boys, we are one step closer to finally getting ourselves an actual lightsaber!  Wicked Lasers has given us the very first “lasersaber” (cough, lightsaber, cough).  The saber attachment  is compatible and fits around  any of their Spyder-3 model lasers.  It’s comprised of an aircraft-grade aluminum hilt and 32″ polycarbonate blade.  When the saber is powered on, the laser’s light is diffused and distributed evenly across the blade.  The power on/power off effect is gorgeous, if the video demo is any indication.  The power of the laser light is great enough for it to be seen pulsing and glowing even in direct sunlight.

Lucasfilm is not affiliated with these, hence the lasersaber name–and the lack of any sound effects.  And as the site repeatedly warns, lasersabers are not meant for sparring and protective eyewear must always be worn while the saber is in use.

The lasersaber grip and blade cost $99.95, but does not include the Spyder-3 laser.  If purchased together, the entire unit ranges from $389.90 to $1069.90 through Wicked Lasers.

And as always. . .may the Force be with you.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Laser, lightsaber, Star Wars

Just don’t call it a Lightsaber originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 6, 2012 at 8:48 am.

Sigh. I love remote control stuff, especially helicopters, but I may well be the worst RC ‘copter pilot ever. I got the cool looking YD-711 2.4GHz 4-channel Avatar licensed RC helicopter from Attop, and broke one of the blades within about 10 minutes of actual flight time. More on that later.

The ‘copter is packed in a rather flimsy display box, but it’s well-secured in it. Because of the lightweight nature of the toy, you have to be a little careful detaching it from all the wire ties used. The box included the ‘copter fully assembled, the remote control (powered by 3 AAA batteries, not included), an AC charger, instructions (in Chinese), an unlabeled rechargeable battery pack, and the tail rotor. The last two items are shown in the instructions but are pre-installed. It took me a while to figure out that the ‘bow-tie-looking thing’ shown in the what looks like a ‘included in box’ photo layout was the tail rotor.

Build quality is so-so. Retailing from under $50 to over $80, it is not a really expensive toy, and it needs to be rather light and ‘cheap-feeling’ to be resilient enough to absorb some punishment. Nonetheless, it seems kind of ‘cheaply made’ to me. One rotor cracked, then later broke only minutes into the test flights.  But the initial crack was my fault – it got tangled up on a kitchen stool’s legs. Ouch! The main forward-facing spotlight also went out – it did not get hit or anything before it died, and nothing I have tried has made it even flicker since. Some part was rattling around – possibly why the spotlight does not work.

Having said that, the overall looks are pretty dang cool! There is a decent amount of detailing, and while it really does not look much like the Avatar helicopters, it is close enough and looks great just sitting around.

I’ve played with other RC ‘copters (badly) and to me, there are a few main things that make this toy stand out, besides the ‘Avatar’ movie styling:

1. There are 2 sets of main rotors, with two sets of blades in each. To make it even more cool, each of the 8 blades pivots independently!
2. The tail rotor is mounted horizontally and tips the ‘copter to fly forward or backwards instead of controlling rotation for direction.
3. The thing can slide sideways!
4. It offers a 4-channel remote rather than the more common 3-channel in this price point.
5. It has lights in it! A forward spotlight (as mentioned, mine died for some reason after just a few minutes), a high-mounted strobing red ‘headlight’, and a three-color ‘tail-light’ under the rear rotor that pulses blue, red, and green. The spotlight and tail light are controlled by a switch on the controller.
6. An opening canopy with a figure in it. I got mine out, but I don’t think it was meant to be removable. Oh well, now the copter is a little lighter.

The pilot figure (with bow), and the loose part

The flight controls are not well-labeled, and the manual is not very helpful if you don’t know the language.

• Left joystick controls the speed of the main rotors and the up/down motion. Moving the joystick sideways causes the ‘copter to scoot sideways. Always start with this joystick at the very bottom position.
• Right joystick controls the tail rotor and how the ‘copter tilts. Lift the tail to go forward and vice versa. Move the joystick to the left or right to rotate the toy. This stick self-centers when not in use.
• The big middle slider switch turns the remote on, and the LED will blink as it tries to connect to the ‘copter. Oddly, the ‘copter itself needs to be in the ‘off’ position to fly. (‘On’ is for charging.)
• Two dial knobs adjust drift (rotation and ‘sliding sideways’) and a middle push button turn the lights on and off.

My feeble attempts to make this fly did not go too horribly, but by the time I broke the blade, I had only done a few seconds of anything resembling controlled flight.  So before I destroyed it completely, I sought the help of someone with extensive flight hours at the controls of many RC devices. I feel especially bad since many reviewers specifically commented about how easy this was to fly! Some of the review videos make it look so easy.

My test pilot discovered that the thing would not fly with the damaged blade, and this triggered an embarrassingly long stretch of trying to find parts, missed and mixed up communications, and so on. Now, we have found the parts, and they are out of stock for an unknown amount of time. Yeesh. I cannot keep this review simmering for that long, it is not fair to the people who supplied it, so we are going with what we have.

My limited flight time with it was a lot of fun, once I got the controls figured out (and hopefully my description above will help someone else!) I really cannot blame the damage on poor build quality for my short experience with it. I am really hoping we finally get the parts; I’ll do an update, hopefully with video, when they do arrive.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Reviews

Tagged: RC helicopter, RC Toys

Attop YD-711 Avatar Licensed RC Helicopter Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 1, 2012 at 11:00 am.

A couple weeks ago, The Gadgeteer had a news post about Brick Brites, clear plastic LEGO-like building blocks.  They’re different from regular LEGO blocks because they have motion-activated blinking lights built-in to add some excitement to your LEGO constructions.  How do you improve upon the LEGO brick?  I had to see what this was all about.  

Brick Brites come in three different colors:  White/Red, White/Green, and White/Blue.  They come in packs of two.

They’re exactly the size of two stacked 2×3 LEGO bricks.  I thought this was a bit of an unusual size, but they had to put the batteries somewhere. I suppose if they used smaller batteries, it just wouldn’t last long.  Brick Brites says the batteries are good for about 100 hours of flashing.

Each Brick Brite is the the size of two 2x3 Lego bricks.

Closeup of the ends. Each brick has two LEDs: One white, one colored. It's interesting that the cardboard package shows three LEDs.

Top and bottom views. Note the 2x3 pattern.

The spring acts as the vibration sensor. When contact is made, the LEDs blink for 13 seconds. The two green bricks I received had bent springs (see right) which made it hard to activate.

To start the flashing, simply tap a brick.  I wouldn’t say shake; it requires a light “jolt”.  Some bricks came alive with a simple finger tap.  The two green ones must have been from a bad batch.  They wouldn’t turn on unless I really whacked ‘em.  Turns out both springs were bent somewhat.

And in case you’re wondering, I already tried to open it up.  It’s definitely adult-proof.  The two halves seemed glued together really well.  Once the batteries are flat, that’s it.

Ooooo...

I gave a handful of these to my 6 year old son and we set off making some crazy vehicles.  Here’s what we produced before bedtime, on location at his City of LEGOs.

"Police car with supply trailer". My son said the trailer carries the extra lights.

A baker in some kind of... car. Yes, he's holding a loaf of bread.

Frankenstein's drag racer lights up the night. (Daddy made this one)

The Brick Brites are a lot of fun and add a new creative element building with LEGOs.  No, you can’t replace the batteries.  The plastic feels a little different than the familiar feel of Lego bricks.  And, if you’re one of those engineering types who is SERIOUS about model building, keep in mind that the tolerances of the Brick Brites are a little off vs. the precise nature of LEGOs:  I found that if you stack a few together, you really notice they’re a little “off” by a fraction of a hair, which I suppose could add up if you’re going to build a half-size replica of the Death Star.

Otherwise, Frankenstein really likes his new ride.

Off to pick up Wolfman and The Mummy.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Kid Gadgets, Reviews

Tagged: LEGO

Brick Brites Blinking LED Plastic Building Brick Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 27, 2012 at 11:00 am.

If you are bored with your current collection of office toys, you might want to check out a set of Tegu Prism Pocket blocks. We’ve told you about these wooden Tegu magnetic blocks before, but now they are offering smaller sets that store in a heavy felted pouch. The Prism set shown here has 6 wooden blocks with magnets inside. You can have fun snapping the smooth stained blocks together to form all sorts of different shapes. And hey, they don’t require batteries. This particular set is priced at $30 and won’t be available until June 1st. Other Pocket sets are available now for $32.00.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: toys

Tegu Prism Blocks originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 23, 2012 at 8:00 am.

Sure, there are LEGO bricks that light up, but do they blink in different colors?  Brick Brites are motion activated pieces that work “with major toy brick brands” and blink when tapped, which helps conserve battery life.  That’s good, because I don’t see a way to change the batteries.  Comes in White/Red, White/Green and White/Blue for $9.99 from ThinkGeek.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: LEGO

Brick Brites Light Up Your LEGOs originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 11, 2012 at 9:00 am.

To prevent getting taken by one of their April Fool’s jokes again this year, I’ve stayed away from ThinkGeek for several days.  (Dang it, I wanted light saber popsicles!)  I was checking them out yesterday, and I found a product that they swear is a real product.  The Star Trek Inflatable Captain’s Chair is an officially licensed Star Trek collectible.  It’s designed for kids, starting at age 3, or for smaller adults up to 120 pounds – though the guy in their product video seems to be heavier than that.  The chair’s arm has lights and printed buttons for red alert, yellow alert, and jettison the pod commands.  Inflated, it’s 27.75″ high x 29.25″ wide x 18″ deep.  It’s in stock at ThinkGeek for $24.99.  (It actually lets me put it in my cart, unlike their joke Star Wars Admiral Ackbar Singing Bass, which only gives me a “gotcha” message.)

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Kid Gadgets, News

Tagged: Kid's gear, Star Trek collectible

Your Own Star Trek Captain’s Chair originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 6, 2012 at 10:00 am.

This Crossbow Water Balloon Launcher won’t make you as cool as Daryl Dixon, but you’ll have a lot more fun shooting the Walking Dead than he does.  This crossbow toy from The Sharper Image comes with 50 biodegradable water balloons, a balloon tie maker, and a plastic target.  It’s made of brightly colored plastic, and it measures 12″ long X 20″ wide X 5.5″ thick and weighs 3.5 pounds.  It’s $29.99 at The Sharper Image.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Crossbow, Toy

Ready Yourself for the Zombie Apocalypse With a Crossbow Water Balloon Launcher originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

From cerriousdesign on Etsy, this mini USB flash drive guitar is a nice little piece for that musician in your life.  It’s made from pine with copper strings that you can even change the tension on, and it also comes with its own soft lined hard case.

Available in 8GB for $75 or 16GB for $90, plus shipping.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: USB Drive

Mini Guitar USB Drive – Musical Memories originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 1, 2012 at 10:45 am.

They’re not as big as the Robots in Real Steel, they’re more advanced than the robots in  The Big Bang Theory,  but they’re not toys and they’re playing for a $12,000 pot.  Started in 2002, the ROBO-ONE championship is an annual competition held in Japan where bipedal  humanoid robots fight it out to the  end.  Here’s the finale of the 19th championship held this weekend in Kawasaki, Japan. I won’t spoil who wins as it might be seen as match fixing

Float like a butterfly, sting like a…………..

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Robots

Robo-One …Two…Three….You’re Out originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 30, 2012 at 8:00 am.

When I was a kid, there were no iPads, video games, or the Internet. When I wasn’t reading books or taking apart broken appliances to salvage magnets, I was playing with yo-yos and gyroscopes. I hadn’t thought about gyroscopes in years till I happened upon an entire site dedicated to selling them. Gyroscope.com offers several gyroscopes, but the one shown above really caught my eye. Made of brass and aluminum, it comes with a special electric motor that is used to get it spinning at 12000 RPM. Priced at $98.99, it’s definitely a  pricey toy. Luckily they offer less expensive models starting at $5.99.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Toy

Gyroscope – Geeky Spinning Fun originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 29, 2012 at 10:00 am.

You build with LEGOs and you build with Tinkertoys, but you can’t build with LEGOs and Tinkertoys – until now!  F.A.T. Lab and Sy-Lab have created a set of 80 universal connectors that “enable complete interoperability between ten popular children’s construction toys.”  (See the F.A.T. Lab site for a complete list.) You can’t buy the Free Universal Connection Kit anywhere, but you can download the free designs as a set of 3D models in .STL format.  If you have your own 3D printer, you can print out the connectors you want, or you can have them printed at various commercial 3D printers.  What are you waiting for?  That plastic block/stick/log figure is waiting for you to build it!

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Kid Gadgets, News

Tagged: LEGO, toys

Free Universal Construction Kit originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 26, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

I know lots of us Gadgeteers love stuff like creating and building things with LEGO.  Well Nathan Sawaya is a New York based artist who’s taken things to another level. He builds with LEGO for a career

As a full-time freelance artist Nathan accepts commissions to design and build custom creations. His work has graced photoshoots, conferences , corporate events and  is currently touring museums around North America. Nathan has a collection of  LEGOs that would make any LEGO-fanatic weak at the knees; over 1.5 million blocks grace his New York Studio.

Check out his work at Brick Artist and see if he’s touring a museum near you.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Art, LEGO

Nathan Sawaya – LEGO Brick Artist originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 25, 2012 at 9:57 am.

Mmmm young Padawans,  shoot sparks to wake you up in the morning this Wesco Star Wars Jedi Training Ball Alarm Clock will not. But Force push umm…. throw it you must for the alarm to turn off.

Available for preorder (expected delivery April/May) from Frontline Hobbies Australia for $29.99AU (approx $32US ).

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News, Watches and Clocks

Tagged: Clock, Star Wars

Jedi Training Ball Alarm Clock – Use the Force Luke originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 20, 2012 at 8:00 am.

These LEGO-like building blocks are made from “a composite of the bark of the cedar tree, compressed dust from sawn cedar logs, and coffee beans as well as other recycled materials.”  The Earth Toy Earth Blocks are 1.25″ long x 0.6″ wide x 0.6″ high.  A set of 50 blocks is $30 at the Guggenheim Store.  I think this might be taking “green” too far, because half of the fun of LEGOs is mixing and matching the colors.  I think buying a used set of LEGO blocks at a yard sale or consignment shop would be just as green and a lot more fun.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Green, LEGO, toys

Eco-Friendly Earth Blocks Building Blocks originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 16, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

Brando is offering the iDroid, the latest entry in the MIDbot series.  This robot has 9 motors that allow it to move body parts, box, launch missiles, and even walk in a “humanoid walking model.”  Instead of a remote controller, you download a free app to your iOS or Android device and connect to iDroid via Bluetooth to control him, or you can use your Bluetooth-enabled, internet-connected computer as your remote.  You can even record and playback routines for iDroid, and an app update planned for the future will allow you to record programs up to 10 minutes long.  The iDroid is $249.00, and it ships only to West Europe, North America, and Asian countries.

Filed in categories: Android related, Geek Toys, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Geek toys, Robots

iDroid – the World’s First Robot Controlled By Smartphones originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 10, 2012 at 10:00 am.

The Capt. Jules’ Extraordinary Telescope Ring from ThinkGeek is the perfect accessory to compete your Steampunk outfit.  The ring is made of cast aluminum, and it comes with attachments that will adjust the ring to fit size 5, size 8, or size 11 fingers.  You can use it as a telescope by folding up the two lenses and sliding them apart, or you can simply fold out the larger lens 180 degrees for use as a magnifying glass.  There’s even a small magnetic compass in the center of the ring.  It’s $29.99 at ThinkGeek.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: Geek jewelry

Find Your Way with the Capt. Jules’ Extraordinary Telescope Ring originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 28, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

How do they do it ? One minute it’s a Aracataca giant pen, the next it’s gone through your microwave, fridge, filing cabinet, table or other solid object. It must be magic !

Available as a giant crayon, “markers” called shortie or pointy, pencil, or autopen in various colours, but so magic there’s no indication of where you can buy them from or for how much

psst..it might have something to do with magnets

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, News

Tagged: desk toys

Aracataca Magic Pointy – How do they do it? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 18, 2012 at 9:00 am.